A PROMISE FULFILLED -- LANDOWNERS RECEIVE MORE THAN $9.4
MILLION TO CONSERVE IMPERILED SPECIES UNDER NEW GRANT PROGRAM

Under the new Private Stewardship Grant program envisioned by President
Bush when he was still Texas governor, the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service today announced 113 grants totaling more than $9.4
million to individuals and groups to undertake conservation projects on
private lands in 43 states for endangered, threatened and other at-risk
species.

In Utah, the Rosebud Ranch Sensitive Species Initiative received a
grant for $146,000. This project is part of a larger habitat restoration
program and will restore habitats for imperiled native fish using water
previously committed to irrigation. The project will provide sorely needed
fish habitat in this part of the arid west and maintain the restored
wetland and open water habitats over the long term.

President Bush originally proposed the creation of the
Private Stewardship Grant program during a speech in Lake Tahoe, Nevada in
June 2000. The grants announced today, the first ever awarded under the
program, will benefit species ranging from the whooping crane in Nebraska
to the bald eagle in the state of Washington. Each grant must be matched
by at least 10 percent of the total project cost either in non-federal
dollars or in-kind contributions.

"Conservation, and especially the conservation of imperiled species,
must be a partnership between the American people and their government,"
said Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton. "By making these grants, we are
empowering citizens to restore habitat on their land and take other steps
to protect and recover endangered, threatened and at-risk species."

"Judging from the number of truly innovative grant proposals we
reviewed, landowners across the U.S. are eager to work with us to conserve
at-risk species," said Service Director Steve Williams. "We anticipate
this public/private partnership will result in significant conservation
achievements for wildlife and wildlife habitat."

The Private Stewardship Grants Program provides federal grants on a
competitive basis to individuals and groups engaged in voluntary
conservation efforts on private lands that benefit federally listed
endangered or threatened species, candidate species or other at-risk
species. Under this program, private landowners as well as groups working
with private landowners are able to submit proposals directly to the
Service for funding to support these efforts. President Bush has requested
funding of $10 million for this program in 2004.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of
small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69
national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological
services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws,
administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird
populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and
restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments
with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program,
which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on
fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

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For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service,
visit our homepage at http://www.fws.gov